Vintage library - The high-frequency watch (early 1970s)

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è in fondo alla pagina) 

“What high frequency timepieces bring to the retailer and the consumer”. The Swiss committee for the promotion of the high frequency watch published this booklet in the early 1970s. Its aim was to emphasise the advantages of the movements equipped with a balance wheel oscillating at 36,000 vibrations per hour (10 times per second). Girard-Perregaux was the first manufacturer to adopt the fast beat escapement patented by the Fabriques d’Assortiments Réunies (FAR) in 1965, and several competitors followed suit.

 

The brochure points out that the 36,000vph frequency guarantees an increased accuracy as compared to the 18,000vph of an ordinary movement, as well as a better rate stability, shock resistance, and long-term reliability due to the dry lubrication system. 

 

The popularity of high-frequency movements lasted for only about a decade, after which time the falling prices and unsurpassable accuracy of quartz watches overshadowed their main selling points. The most notable survivor of the fast-beat era is El Primero, the chronograph movement by Zenith whose frequency enables to time events to the tenth of a second.

 

ITALIANO

“Cosa offre l’alta frequenza al commerciante e al consumatore”. Il comitato svizzero per la promozione dell’orologio ad alta frequenza pubblicò questo opuscolo nei primi Anni 70. Il suo scopo era sottolineare i vantaggi dei movimenti equipaggiati con il bilanciere che oscillava a 36.000 alternanze/ora (10 semioscillazioni secondo). Girard-Perregaux fu il primo fabbricante ad adottare lo scappamento ultrarapido brevettato dalle Fabriques d’Assortiments Réunies (FAR) nel 1965, imitato in breve da numerosi concorrenti.

La brochure fa notare che la frequenza di 36.000a/o garantisce una precisione superiore alle 18.000 a/o di un movimento standard, oltre a prestazioni migliori in termini di stabilità, resistenza agli urti e affidabilità a lungo termine grazie al sistema di lubrificazione a secco.

Il successo dell’alta frequenza durò poco più di un decennio, poi i prezzi calanti e la precisione insuperabile del quarzo misero in ombra i suoi argomenti commerciali più importanti. Il sopravvissuto più famoso di quel periodo è El Primero, il movimento cronografico Zenith che grazie alla sua frequenza permette di misurare tempi parziali con una precisione al decimo di secondo.

Auctions - Christie's (Geneva, 9 May)

Here are some of the most interesting timepieces seen in the catalog of the upcoming Christie’s auction in Geneva.

Rolex Daytona 18k gold Ref. 6269 “Jack of Diamonds”, made for the French market. The exterior of the case back is stamped with the French ‘owl’ importation gold marks and both the case back and bracelet clasp are stamped with the Rolex France Logo. Estimate: CHF 1,100,000-2,000,000. 

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Ref. 3448, dating back to 1970 is one of only three examples known publicly that are double signed for Patek Philippe’s Italian retailer, Hausmann & Co. in Rome. The present dial would be one of the last of the engraved hard enamelled dials to be used on the reference. The dials changed to printed signature and calendar numerals from 1971. Estimate: CHF 150,000-200,000. 

 

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. This timepiece is part of the first 2000 ‘A-series’ Royal Oaks ever created, with the serial number ‘A 1741’, the 1’741^th piece to be made. It has an original ‘A-series’ dial, with the AP logo above the 6 o'clock index, and reads "Swiss" below 6 o'clock. Estimate: CHF 70,000-140,000. 

This Cartier London 'Crash' features a large cursive script signature ‘Cartier London’ on the painted dial, a crisp heavy gold case and a matching gold ‘Crash’ folding clasp both with full Cartier London signature and hallmarks for 1990. Estimate: CHF 180,000-280,000.

 

 

New releases – Louis Erard Excellence Guilloché Main II

  

This limited series of 99 pieces features engine turned (guilloché in French) dials produced piece by piece. The company’s engineers had to invent and manufacture new cams (large metal stencils that the lathe translates into a design and scales down to the scale of the dial) to achieve this result. The 42 mm steel case houses the Caliber Sellita SW261-1, an automatic movement with hour and minute function. Price: CHF 3’900.

 

Vintage ad - Audemars Piguet (1927)

ENGLISH

"Top quality baguette 5.6 x 16 mm - Side winding crown". This Audemars Piguet ad dating back to 1927 is more telling than it seems. Wristwatches were steadily gaining market shares over pocket watches, but final victory was still a few years away as far as male customers were concerned. Women on the contrary had proved more modern-minded, the main obstacle to a widespread adoption of such timepieces being the poor reliability of most small movements. That is why top manufacturers set about developing calibers such as this one - a superbly designed baguette-shaped engine that could make even the tiniest jewel watches accurate.
Do you like vintage watch ads? Please visit the page about Watch Ads, my two-volume pictorial history of communication and design in 20th Century watchmaking. Click here to watch the video clip about the project. Click here to display and download a 20-page preview of Volume 1.

ITALIANO
"Baguette di prima qualità 5,6 x 16 mm - Corona di carica laterale". Questo annuncio Audemars Piguet del 1927 dice più di quanto appaia. Gli orologi da polso stavano sottraendo quote di mercato rilevanti ai segnatempo da tasca, ma per la vittoria finale presso la clientela maschile ci sarebbe voluto qualche anno ancora. Le donne, invece, si dimostrarono più rapide nel recepire la novità, trovando un ostacolo solo nella scarsa affidabilità di molti movimenti di dimensioni ridotte. I fabbricanti di gamma superiore si impegnarono quindi nello sviluppo di calibri come questo - un superbo progetto meccanico di forma baguette in grado di rendere precisi perfino gli orologi gioiello più minuscoli.  
Ti piacciono le pubblicità d'epoca? Visita la pagina su Watch Ads, la mia storia illustrata in due volumi della comunicazione e del design nell'orologeria del Novecento. Clicca qui per guardare il video sull'opera. Clicca qui per visualizzare e scaricare un'anteprima di 20 pagine del Volume 1.

Time Design – An exhibition

An unmissable (and free!) exhibition awaits watch fans visiting Geneva until May 8.

 

The Pont de la Machine, an historical building in the heart of the city, is hosting “Time Design – a journey into wristwatch design”.

 

After a brief evocation of pocket watches, the exhibition focuses on the wristwatch and its stylistic iterations from the early twentieth century to this day. 

 

Some one hundred pieces presented in showcases trace a history combining functional considerations with an inventiveness inspired by the latest fashions, as well as technical advancement in an array of forms, materials and dimensions. 

 

The exhibition also presents a tribute to Gérald Genta featuring his sketches, paintings, and several exceptional timepieces he designed.

 

 

Vintage gadgets - Mido (1970s)

ENGLISH

A display plaque for the shopwindow of an official Mido retailer. Described as the “King of waterproof watches”, the Ocean Star was introduced in 1959. Aquadura was the name of its crown sealing system.

ITALIANO  

Una targhetta metallica per la vetrina di un rivenditore ufficiale Mido. Presentato come il “Re degli orologi impermeabili”, l’Ocean Star fu lanciato nel 1959. Aquadura era il nome del suo sistema di chiusura stagna per la corona.

Auctions – The Dubai Edit online sale

Christie’s first online auction of the season took place in Dubai 15-29 March and passed the US$ 12 million mark. 

 

Once again Patek Philippe led the sale. The gold Ref. 3974J minute repeater perpetual calendar sold for US$567,000. The model was launched in 1989 to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary and was the world's most complicated wristwatch at the time. The unique Ref. 3940G with a custom pink gold dial commissioned by Michael S. Ovitz, renowned collector and former head of Disney Inc., sold for US$214,200 and became the most expensive Ref. 3940 sold at any auction. 

 

 F.P. Journe led the rally of the independents with an early rose gold Tourbillon Souverain with brass movement selling for US$504,000 and a Chronomètre à Résonance Black Label realising US$403,200.

   

A pair of Greubel Forsey GMT Sport including a one-off in red returned impressive results. While the GMT Sport Blue sold for U$478,800, the unique GMT Sport Red realised a price of US$ 504,000. 

 

 As for Rolex, a yellow gold Daytona Ref. 6265 ‘Oyster Split’ fetched US$252,000.